Page 85 - Työpoliittinen aikakauskirja 2 2018

Työpoliittinen aikakauskirja 2/2018
English Summaries
Evaluation of result-based employment service pilots
Olli Oosi, M.Soc. Sc. (political science), Senior Partner, Owal Group Ltd.
This article summarizes key findings and conclusions from one-year on-going eval- uation or result-based employment service
pilots based on Governments Spear Head pro- ject on Job Matching. The pilots were success- ful experiments and a lot can be learned from them for the further development of new pilots. The number of clients of the pilots overall was so small that no significant conclusions can be drawn. The functionality of customer guidance is a critical explanatory factor for the success of the pilots. In the main, the employment results during the review period were as good among customers who were interested in the pilots as for those who did not participate in them. Starting up their own business was a genuine alternative for only some of those who took part in the pilots. The most productive of the busi- ness services pilots were those related to clear needs and which had set targets.
In the evaluation it is recommended that customer guidance should be implemented more systematically and clearly than at pres- ent. Procurement should be implemented as a negotiation procedure and emphasis should be placed on quality factors and competitive dialogue. Pilots should be tried out with the longer term unemployed drawing lots to select customers and utilising benchmarking. Service providers should be encouraged to experiment with different things during the pilots. Moving towards freedom of choice, service providers’ marketing and communications regarding their services should be increased. More con- sideration should be given to entrepreneurship and new forms of employment as alternative employment results.
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